Spes Magna Games

It’s been a few days since I’ve written about OSRIC. My son Christopher and I were out of town visiting Clear Creek Monastery in eastern Oklahoma, and we were largely sans internet during that time. Now that I’m back home and back on summer vacation, it’s time to get to work.

Two of my favorite D&D books from two different eras of the game are AD&D’s Oriental Adventures and 3E D&D’s Oriental Adventures. (Nota Bene: Those are affiliate links; if you click and purchase, I get a few pennies.) While I just adore both of these books, they have seldom found use in any game I’ve ever participated in. I’ve used bits and pieces of both as DM, introducing OA monsters and spells into non-OA settings. Lately, I’ve been thinking I’d like do something more with the OA source material.

In the AD&D incarnation of OA, the magic-user analog is the wu jen, who “are sorcerers, men of mysterious power. They command the elements, spirit forces, and the very powers of nature.” That sounds exciting. The aforementioned elements come in five flavors: earth (including metal), water, fire, wind, and wood (including nature). A wu jen who “learns all of the spells of a single element up to the highest level of spell he can cast” has mastered that element. The 3E OA wu jen has a similar class feature.

The division of spells into five elements pretty much required modifying the magic-user’s spell lists, introducing many new spells in the process. While I’ve never played either OA enough to say for certain, my impression is that the wu jen’s spells are weaker than the magic-user’s spells. If I were putting together a group of adventures, and I had a choice between a 5th-level wu jen or a 5th-level magic-user, I’d go for the latter. Maybe.

So, what does this have to do with OSRIC? Am I proposing to convert AD&D’s OA to OSRIC?

Well, answering in reverse: No, and permit me to explain.

It might be possible to modify OSRIC’s rules a bit so that the magic-user’s spell list becomes a wu jen’s spell list. This starts with a modifier that applies to many spells:

Variable Special Effect: A wu jen’s spells do not have defined sources related to their effects. In other words, a magic missile is not “a magical energy dart”. A lightning bolt is not “a bolt of lightning” nor is a stinking cloud “a nauseating cloud of vapors”. The wu jen determines the elemental manifestation of his spells when he casts them. This might modify the effects of the spell, as determined by the DM, but most of the time the effects are cosmetic.

Next up, we must turn to the wu jen with an addendum to the magic-user’s basic class ability:

Spellcasting: At first level, a wu jen chooses one of the five elements. This is his keyed element, but he has knowledge of the other four. When a wu jen memorizes his spells, he assigns an element to each spell. This helps determine the effects of the spell when it is cast. Once per day at 1st level, a wu jen may invest a spell with additional power from his keyed element. Doing so has one of the following effects (chosen by the wu jen):

• The wu jen may ignore a spell component of his choice.
• The spell’s range and duration are increased by 25%. This does not apply to a range of Caster or Touch or to a duration of Instantaneous.
• The spell’s casting time is reduced by 50% (but to no less than 1 segment).
• Saving throws against the spell are made with a -1 penalty.
• For effects not related to range and duration, the spell takes effect as if the wu jen’s caster level were one higher.

When a wu jen gains access to a new level of spells, he gains another use of this keyed element ability. At 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 11th levels, a wu jen adds another key element to his repretoire. Thus, by 11th level, a wu jen has mastered all five elements.

So, what might this look like in play? Eric created Chen Mengjia, a 1st-level wu jen, at the start of the campaign. Mengjia can invest his spells with keyed elemental power twice per day. Through skill and luck, the wu jen has advanced to third level. He has two keyed elements: fire and wind. Mengjia memorizes his spells for the day, assigning an element to each spell.

1st-Level: magic missile (earth), shield (air)
2nd-Level: scare (fire)

During the course of his adventuring day, Mengjia encounters a group of skeletal guardians. He casts magic missile, sending two magical stones hurtling towards the targets. More skeletal guardians arrive, and these have crossbows. Mengjia fears a lengthy battle. He imbues his shield of air with fire. A shimmering barrier of magical heat appears. It has a duration of 19 rounds (the normal 5 rounds/level plus 25%). Later when facing a pair of cockatrices, Mengjia imbues his scare spell with air. A fiery, howling apparition quickly manifests and vanishes. One cockatrice must make its saving throw against scare with a -1 penalty.

Tags: Character Classes, Oriental Adventures, OSRIC

Today, I continue to explore expanding OSRIC to include narrative elements inspired by Margaret Weis Productions’ Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game (MHRG). In the first post on this topic, I looked at how characters and monsters create assets and complications that affect Attack, Defense, Saving Throws, and Damage. It’s now time to turn to noncombat applications of the idea (“noncombat” meaning not applicable to Attack, Defense, Saving Throws, or Damage).

OSRIC does not have a skill system, and I’m certainly not proposing to add one. Instead, I’m going to start with tried-and-true idea of ability checks, which were widely used as a house rule in 1E AD&D, morphing into nonweapon proficiencies with 2E AD&D.

An ability check is simple. The player proposes a course of action, the success of which is not obvious. The DM designates an ability score that governs that action and determines the action’s difficulty. The players rolls one or more dice and compares the result to the ability score to determine success. The lower the result, the better.

Let’s formalize some of this by tying the number of dice rolled to the difficulty of the action. The harder the action, the more dice the player rolls, which leads to higher totals on average and reduces the odds of success.

Easy: 2d6
Average: 3d6
Hard: 4d6
Heroic: 5d6
Nigh Impossible: 6d6

The player rolls and totals the results of the indicated number of dice. If this total is equal to or less than the governing ability score, the character succeeds. (Nota Bene: This system assumes that no other part of the rules covers the proposed action. For example, it wouldn’t be used to open a door as that task is already governed by Strength.)

For example, Wiggles the halfling thief wants to jump up on a table in order to pull a tapestry down onto a well-armed and armored ogre. Can Wiggles make the jump onto the table? There’s no good reason why he ought not be able to try. The DM judges that Wiggles’s height compared to the table’s height added to the constricted area due to the ogre and other combatants makes jumping onto the table on Average task governed by Wiggles’s Strength of 11. Christopher rolls 3d6, totals the dice, and compares the result to Wiggles’s Strength.

But, what if there’s something in Wiggles’s background that hints he’s good at jumping? How does this factor in?

Going back to MHRG, we find the concept of Distinctions, which are “defining backgrounds, personality traits, or catchphrases that summarize important facets of the hero’s outlook and approach to life.” An MHRG hero usually has three Distinctions, one of which helps form the dice pool rolled to determine success. Applied to OSRIC during character creation, a player should write three Distinctions for his character. Of course, the DM must approve these Distinctions.

For example, Christopher wrote these Distinctions for Wiggles: Circus Runaway, Plans for the Worst, and Shy, Yet Brave

We can now see that the reason Wiggles thinks he can make the jump onto the table in the middle of a pitched melee is because Wiggles spent time with a circus. This Distinction does not require an action to get into play. It is part of the character’s background. Consequently, Wiggles enjoys the benefit of an asset die when doing things related to having worked for a circus. Since Wiggles is a 2nd-level thief, his asset die size is d4. Christopher rolls 3d6 and 1d4, and subtracts the d4 from the total (because the d4 is a benefit and goal is get the lowest possible total). He rolls 3, 4, and 6 on the 3d6 and 3 on the 1d4, giving a total of 10 (3 + 4 + 6 – 3). Wiggles succeeds!

Another thing to note is that the modifier provided by an asset or complication might apply to a task governed by a d% roll. In this case, treat each unit as plus or minus 5% to the d% result.

For example, Wiggles needs to sneak past a couple of guards. Being only a 2nd-level thief, his move silently chance is not impressive, but it’s much better than Bric’s and Brac’s chances. Since Wiggles Plans for the Worst, Christopher explains how Wiggles carefully studies the routes so as to maximize staying out of line of sight while minimizing the odds of stumbling over something or stepping on something noisy. The DM thinks this sounds a lot like creating an asset. Christopher rolls 1d20 + 2 (Wiggles’s level) – 1 (since each guard is a 0-level NPC, the DM rules they count as half a Hit Die each). Christopher rolls a 16, which yields a result well above the 11 needed to create an asset. Wiggles gets his d4 asset die, which translates into a 5-20% modifier to Wiggles’s chance to move silently.

A final caveat: Care must be exercised with Distinctions. They should probably not ever directly affect Attack, Defense, Damage, or Saving Throws, at least not without having to create an asset or complication as previously described. Distinctions can otherwise apply more or less automatically to a wide range of activities, or they can be used to create assets and complications.

Tags: 1E AD&D, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, OSRIC

Last time I wrote about OSRIC, I pondered about how I might incorporate something along the lines of assets and complications in the style of Margaret Weis Productions’ Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game (MHRG). Today, I continue those thoughts.

Let’s start by designating Attack, Damage, Defense, and Saving Throws as the areas for which assets and complications may apply. In each area, an asset provides an additional die that generates a bonus, and a complication provides an additional die that generates a penalty. The size of the bonus die (a generic term that applies to both assets and complications) depends on the character’s level or the creature’s Hit Dice (as shown on the nearby table).

Next, some ground rules about bonus dice:

1. The decision to use the bonus die must be made before any other dice are rolled.
2. A bonus die’s result applied to Attack or Defense is halved (round up). A modifier to a to-hit roll is a lot like a modifier to damage as well since hitting more or less often means inflicting more or less damage.
3. The bonus die is good for a single round.
4. It is possible that more one bonus die may apply depending on the situation.
5. The duration of a bonus die varies based on its nature, the situation, and the DM’s judgment.

A creature’s ability to create an asset or complication is a function of its level/HD opposed by the level/HD of the target. (For now, I’m ignoring targets that don’t have a level/HD, such as a trap.) The creature attempting to create the asset or complication is the actor. The target is the target. The actor rolls 1d20 + his level/HD – the target’s level/HD. If the modified d20 result is 11 or better, the actor succeeds and creates an asset or complication of the appropriate die size.

So, that takes care of the mechanical aspects. We must now consider the narrative aspects because no actor can create a bonus die without describing the nature of the proposed asset or complication. This requires a concise, complete description of what the actor is attempting and how success justifies the effects of the bonus die. The DM has final say over whether the proposed course of action is possible.

For Example

Christopher is playing a halfling thief named Wiggles, who is engaged in combat with a well-armed and armored mercenary ogre. Wiggles and his fellow adventurers face a grim and deadly foe, one who excels at inflicting and absorbing damage. Recognizing that the group’s best chance for success rides on the shoulders of Bric and Brac, the group’s twin fighters played by Terry and Eric, Wiggles gets clever.

“You mentioned there’s a tapestry on the wall near the table?” Christopher says, and the DM nods. “Excellent! Wiggles jumps onto the table and yanks the tapestry down so that it covers the ogre.”

The DM approves this course of action, and Christopher rolls 1d20, adding Wiggles’s level and subtracting the ogre’s HD. The modified d20 result is a 13, a success! Wiggles’s bonus die is a d4.

Terry’s fighter, Shay Magnifique, acts next. Terry decides to use the bonus die as a modifier for his to-hit roll. He rolls 1d20 and 1d4, remembering to halve (rounding up) the latter’s result. Thanks to the bonus die, Shay’s attack succeeds! Ray Magnifique attacks next, using the bonus die as a damage modifier. Eric’s to-hit roll succeeds, and he gets an extra d4 added to his damage!

The ogre tears away tapestry, staggering from the severity of his wounds as he raises his huge club for the attack….

Next up? Further exploration of this idea, including how it might apply to noncombat situations.

Tags: OSRIC

Today’s musings about OSRIC, venture into strange territory. Let’s set up the first steps into this new land with some background.

Back in the day, Basic D&D and AD&D had rules that covered quite a lot of the in-game activity that characters might attempt. These rules covered topics as diverse as hiring mercenaries, exploring wilderness regions, building strongholds, and researching new spells. Some rules applied to specific characters. Can a thief move silently? Well, maybe, but there’s a defined percentage chance for that.

Can non-thieves move silently? Well, maybe, and here the rules get a little loosey-goosey. Elves and halflings can some of the time. What about fighter? Can he move silently? His choice of armor probably answers that question. Is he wearing plate mail? Then, nope, he’s not moving silently, but what does that mean? How noisy is he? One answer might be, “Not so noisy that he still can’t surprise most creatures on a 1 or a 2.” That’s a third of time, which is better than any 1st-level thief’s chance to move silently, and that doesn’t seem right, which shows that the answer doesn’t quite work.

1E AD&D has a secondary skills table in the Dungeon Masters Guide. Lord Korbok, my dwarf fighter/thief, was a teamster/freighter. What does that mean? If he’s loading or unloading a wagon, is there a die roll involved? Can he demand union wages for his labor? It would seem so because later the Dungeon Masters Guide shows that a teamster earns 5 silver pieces a day for his work, but what if the teamster is also a 9th-level fighter and a 12th-level thief? (Okay, that question is probably a bit silly.)

Questions such as these (and many others) didn’t have defined answers. These answers boiled down this: Whatever the DM says is the rule. Players could make suggestions, but the DM had the final say. Often when I’ve DMed, I deferred anywhere from in part to in whole to the players for these sorts of answers. In the process, the players help define the minutiae of the campaign world. I know other DMs have done the same sort of thing.

In short, no rule set can possibly account for every variable or answer every question.

Which brings me to the brilliant Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Game (MHRG) published by Margaret Weis Productions. MHRG is about as different as 1E AD&D as a game can get. There are no secret dice rolls in MHRG. Everything occurs out in the open as part of a shared story, and both players and the GM can use their dice rolls to modify the game in some interesting ways. Two of those ways are the creation of assets and complications, which are kind of the opposite of each other.

An asset is created when a dice pool generates a total that succeeds against the target number. In 1E AD&D terms, this is like an attack roll. The successful action has an effect die (analogous to 1E AD&D’s damage roll). This effect die, however, may not represent damage. It may represent an asset or complication. Put most simply, an asset increases the odds of success for another action, and a complication decreases the odds of success for another action.

Let’s say I’m playing Captain America leading a team of heroes past a group of A.I.M. guards. Stealth is of the essence. As Captain America, I could rely on my Covert Expert specialty, but that doesn’t really help the other heroes, some of whom may not be particularly sneaky. So, I explain to the GM that I’m going study the guards’ patterns, analyzing their fields of vision and habits to find the best way to slip past their post without being noticed. I roll my dice pool and succeed. Let’s say my chosen effect die is a d8. This becomes an asset called Best Route d8, which can then be used to aid another hero’s attempt to be sneaky. (Nota Bene: If I spend a Plot Point, that asset becomes persistent, able to be used by more than one hero.)

A complication is an asset in reverse. Imagine that I’m playing Henry Pym as Ant-Man instead of Cap, and that the situation involves a fight with a giant, nigh-invulnerable robot. As Ant-Man, none of my attacks stand much of chance of damaging the robot. So, instead of fighting, I use a combination of shrinking and scientific expertise to get inside part of the robot. After criss-crossing a few wires and dislodging a transistor or two (represented by a successful dice pool roll), I create a Systems Malfunction complication (which would have an effect die attached to it).

All of this leads up to to the topic for my next blogpost: What if OSRIC had a simple but meaningful system to simulate this sort of narrative control?

Tags: 1E AD&D, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, OSRIC

Before heading once more unto the OSRIC, let’s detour a bit through 5E D&D. I’ve been DMing a 5E D&D game every other Sunday for several sessions. We started out with AD&D’s Slave Pits of the Undercity. I tweaked things a bit to fit our shared-DM world and to inject the horrid followers of Wastri the Hopping Prophet into the mix. I converted the AD&D module more or less on-the-fly. It proved to be a challenging scenario made lethal by a single foolish decision by one of the players.

As is my way, I turned the total-party-kill into a choice: your character can survive (but with consequences) or you can make up a new character (but with consequences). Three players kept their characters; the other two brought in new ones. The consequences? Starting out naked and equipmentless on a small lake island that served as the sacrificial place for a froghemoth. The heroes escaped the froghemoth after discovering a hidden stairwell leading deep into the island and the lake bed itself.

At this point, the heroes found themselves in Descent into the Depths of the Earth. Out of the frying pan, and all that. They faced drows, bugbears, gargoyles, a purple worm, a giant slug, and trolls. They befriended a group of flumphs. The heroes explored carefully, finding their way into what turned out to be the prison of a demon, which one of the heroes freed in exchange for its “blessing”. From the demon prison, the heroes discovered a path back to the surface.

Thus ended the most recent arc in a 5E D&D campaign that started with Against the Cult of the Reptile God run by Terry, our other DM. In short, we’ve been using AD&D material with 5E D&D for many months, and it’s worked like a charm. We’re probably switching DMs again for the next session, which will likely see us reverting to the the first group of heroes, those who saved Orlane and defeated the Reptile God’s cult.

And now a clumsy segue from 5E D&D into OSRIC territory.

Character advancement in 5E D&D moves quickly from 1st to 2nd to 3rd level. All 5E D&D classes use the same XP chart, and it takes 300 XP to reach 2nd level, 900 XP to reach 3rd level, and 2700 XP to reach 4th level. Put another way, a 5E D&D character reaches 2nd level after earning 1/9 of 4th-level XP and reaches 3rd level after earning 1/3 of 4th-level XP.

As both a player and DM, I prefer lower to mid levels, but I’m not a huge fan of 1st and 2nd levels. For me, the sweet spot in the game kicks in around 3rd level and lasts until about 9th, although I have enjoyed greatly both lower and higher level play. I like the way 5E D&D treats 1st-3rd levels as a sort of apprenticeship of sorts, moving the PCs along quickly before slowing the march toward 4th level.

So, what might this look like for OSRIC? Let’s compare the four main classes via the table below.

Using these modified numbers, PCs progress to 3rd level more quickly than normal, but the distinction between classes stays in place. The magic-user still needs more XP to gain a level than the thief does. After 3rd level, the old-school differentiation between each class’s level advancement would kick back in.

Tags: 5E D&D, OSRIC